I just love a good baby shower.  It’s overflowing with cuteness and brimming with love and hope.

Despite the difficulty, pregnancy is a magical time for Mamas, and baby showers share a tiny piece of that magic with loved ones.

The last 5 years of my life has been brimming with babies.  Virtually all of my close friends, my sister, and of course myself, have all had babies!  So, needless to say,  I have hosted more than my share of baby showers!

Over the years, I’ve learned a thing or two about throwing baby showers and I’m here to help.  I’ve compiled a list of advice for my fellow party hosts.  Save yourself a little time, and check out my top 10 tips for throwing a baby shower!

Be sure to read all the through for my FREE baby shower timeline!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Basic Invite.  Thank you for supporting the brands that make This Crafty Mom possible. 

1. Pick a date

When picking a date for a baby shower you need to take a few things into consideration. Obviously, the most important thing is the due date. While lots of people wait until the last month to throw baby showers, this isn’t always the best solution for a number of reasons.

Depending on the circumstances, there is always a chance the baby could be born early, which obviously throws a wrench in party plans. Sometimes pre-term births are expected and sometimes they come by complete surprise.

Additionally, the last month (or two) of pregnancy, tend to be the most uncomfortable for Moms-to-be. They’re bloated, swollen, waddling, sore, and have essentially been running a baby-making marathon for the past 9 months. They likely aren’t feeling at their prime, and may be a tad self conscious.

And of course, babies come with SO MUCH STUFF. The primary reason for throwing a baby shower is to support the ones we love and of course shower them with gifts to help them transition into parenthood. Ideally, they’ll have everything they need BEFORE baby arrives. Which is yet another reason to throw the shower a little bit earlier. That way they aren’t left scrambling to figure out what they still need to buy right before baby arrives.

So when picking a date, I’d suggest you keep all these things in mind. Ideally a baby shower falls somewhere in between the 7th-8th month of pregnancy. I highly recommend you avoid the 9th month at all costs!

2. Set your budget

Obviously this is a big one. You’ll need to determine how much you have to spend. While I’m huge on party planning and decorations, you might need, or want, to throw a low-key baby shower with a tight budget. And you know what? It won’t matter.

She’ll love it no matter what.

In throwing a shower, you’re extending her your love and graciousness.  That is far more valuable than splurging on decorations. Keep in mind, practically everything can be DIY these days. I’ve thrown a ton of parties and my decorations are almost exclusively made by me. Be sure to check out my parties and DIY tutorials as well!

A super cute theme that is currently popular is the fox/woodland theme. I love how this one can be gender neutral. One of my close friend’s family threw her a shower with this theme last year and it was amazing! There is so much you can do with it!

3. Decide on guests

I recommend inviting family and friends but also considering whether or not the Mom-to-be is having more than one shower. Will she be having one at work? Are both families throwing a shower? Consider these things when deciding on guests.

Of course you don’t want to make it seem like a gift grab, but be sure to invite anyone you think would reasonably want to attend. For my own, my Mom felt it was important to invite her friends, who had watched me grow up. It never would have occurred to me that they would want to come, but they did. They were invested in my life, as well as my future child. Be sure to think out the box, and ask other close relatives to make sure you don’t miss anyone!

However, remember your budget. If you need to keep it small and in her inner circle, it will still be an amazing memory for her.

4. Decide on a venue

Again, this can be as simple, or elaborate as you want it to be. I’ve been to baby showers in Banquet halls, libraries, fire departments, and living rooms.  There are tons of possibilities!

My own baby showers were both in the church basement (which also functions as a gathering area) of the church I was married in.

One important consideration though, is the amount of guests you will have. If you are hosting a huge shower, you might not want to throw it in your home unless you have a really spacious house. There are tons of other places you can host at. The Mom-to-be’s church, a local community building, a favorite restaurant; the options are endless.

5. Choose a theme

So, this step isn’t entirely mandatory, but it is a lot of fun! This is my favorite part of party planning because it’s when all the fun begins.

If the Mom-to-be has a theme for the nursery, that is certainly a good place to start. If not, don’t worry, there thousands of different themes you can choose from. I’d recommend a quick search on Pinterest to get you started. Simply typing in “baby shower themes” and adding baby’s gender will yield a ton of results!

My friend’s recent shower had the most amazing decorations to fit her woodland theme. Even more awesome, was that many of them doubled as decor for her nursery or clothes for baby. I love that her sweet babe will be able to grow up in a room surrounded by the decorations that represent the gathering of friends and family eagerly awaiting her birth.

6. Pick your invitations

Once you’ve decided on your theme, the invitations are the easy part. All you’ve got to do is gather the information you’ll need on the card and find a design you like. While you can create your own, this is super time consuming and can be frustrating. Instead, I recommend you check out the amazing designs offered by Basic Invite.

Basic Invite offers customized baby shower invitations that are as adorable as they are easy to create! The Basic Invite experience isn’t your typical card shopping encounter. When I say customized, I mean you literally can make it yours from top to bottom! They have 180 different color options that you can apply to each element on the card. There are even foil design options on some cards. They are amazing!

Don’t believe me? Basic Invite lets you order custom samples to ensure satisfaction with your order!

You can even choose your envelope color and use their address capturing service for free! It doesn’t get any simpler than that!

Since I’m on a woodland shower kick, I’ve got to share their adorable fox baby shower invitations.

I’m also obsessed with their cowboys baby shower invitations too. I would have so much fun planning a little cowboy (or cowgirl) themed baby shower!

And right now, they are offering 15% off with the coupon code: 15FF51

Don’t forget to include a RSVP section so your guests can let you know if they are planning to attend. You can use a number or email address. I personally love to include a number and include the word Text beside it, to make it super convenient for people to RSVP.

Also, be sure Mom-to-be has registered! You will need to add this information to the invite. This way she has a better chance of truly getting the things she needs.

RELATED READING: 28 Must – Have Baby Essentials (Shower gifts she’ll actually want!)

7. Plan a menu

Generally baby showers are light hors d’oeuvres. Depending on the time of day, you may want to consider serving a light meal. Personally, I prefer to schedule parties in the mid-afternoon, between meals, to save a little cash.

Since you’ve picked a theme, it is always a good idea to check out Pinterest for food ideas. I’m a little extra when I plan my menus and try and plan all my dishes to go with my theme. I try to create or buy cutsie little food tents and go the full nine yards. My sister’s Dr. Seuss baby shower was one of the my favorites. We went all out with some themed food!

Once I determine my menu, I usually make a shopping plan. Somethings are cheaper to buy in bulk so I always hit up Sam’s or Costco, and usually just my regular grocery store for smaller things. I usually wait til a 3-4 days before the party to get the food and start prepping it.

If you know of any dietary restrictions, it’s polite to try and accommodate them within reason. Like if Aunt Sally’s got a peanut allergy, maybe skip them on the menu.

I’d also recommend looking at a good punch recipe. Not sure if it’s a Southern thing, but it’s like a rule of law here to have an amazing punch at the party. You may even be able to find a recipe to match your theme!

8. Create & purchase decorations

Y’all…this is where it gets fun! Hands down my favorite party of partying planning.

I’m the proverbial Pinterest Mom. I’ve been addicted from inception, so I get a ton of decor ideas from Pinterest. There is a sea of ideas out there. An entire ocean.

I typically make a list or a new board on Pinterest of all the DIY projects I want to try. I also add to it any printables I need to make or buy. Like the banners, food tents, and miscellaneous cutesy paper decor. Be sure if you do print any yourself you print it on cardstock. Regular copy paper doesn’t usually hold up that well.

I try and find plates and napkins that go along with the theme. Most of the time, I check out a few stores before I pick one, because I try to find the most cost effective way to keep it super cute.

9. Determine entertainment/games

This is always optional, but who doesn’t enjoy a good baby shower game?

At my own first shower, there was a guess the candy dirty diaper game.  At others I’ve played The Price is Right, Don’t say Baby, melt the ice cube (with a baby in it), and so much more.

These silly, simple games are a super fun memory of a special day.

As always, you can browse Pinterest for tons of ideas.  But it’s also a good idea to keep it simple because you’re likely overwhelmed with all the other ins and outs of throwing a baby shower.

If you can find it done for you…even better!!  I love these Baby Mad Libs from Basic Invite.  They are affordable and adorable!!

10. Thank your guests

Often, party hosts provide a small token of thanks to guests. This usually is in the form of a small gift in a favor bag. Of course, it’s Pinterest to the rescue again! There are soooo many cute ideas at the tips of your fingers! It’s also likely you will be able to find something that will coordinate with your theme.

Of course the Mom-to-be should plan on sending her own thank you notes. An amazing gift for Mom is to go ahead and buy the thank you cards for her and set out the envelopes at the shower so guests can pre-address them! If you’re feeling extra generous you can even add a stamp.

I adore these thank you cards from Basic invite. This ties in perfectly with the fox invites and a woodland theme. You can even customize the colors and fonts on these! And of course, get coordinating color envelopes to match!

Free Printable –  Baby Shower Timeline

Of course there will always be last minute details to work out, but at this point, you should pretty much have everything done that you need. To help you remember these tips, and make it easy to reference them, I’ve created this free printable baby shower timeline! It’s got everything you need to know about throwing a baby shower, in one handy dandy reference!  Just print it, pop it on the fridge and plan with ease!

You can grab this free printable here, or by clicking on the image below.

And don’t forget, no matter how fancy, or simple, your shower may be, it is without a doubt going to be appreciated! That sweet baby you are honoring is a tiny person worthy of all the blessings!

Don’t forget to pin this for later!

And be sure to follow me on Pinterest for tons of baby shower ideas. I’m constantly pinning new things!